Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vail, Arizona 85706
Wednesday, September 18, 2002 16:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a planned nonstop cross-country flight from Texas to Arizona, the pilot exhausted all fuel and made a hard forced landing in a clearing. The pilot reported that en route strong headwinds were encountered, and he was aware that his fuel status was low but thought he had sufficient fuel to fly home despite the headwinds. The pilot acknowledged that he should have diverted to available airports but evidently misjudged the headwind and his available fuel. When all engine power was lost he aimed for a clearing near a drag strip. During the descent he observed power lines, dissipated airspeed to avoid them, and stalled thus impacting the ground hard. No mechanical problems were reported with the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate fuel consumption calculations, which resulted in fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Vail |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85706 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320240N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1104711W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1555 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16352 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1655 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2982U |
| NTSB Number | LAX02LA290 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17254808 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Joseph A. Riggs, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Oro Valley |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85737 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ELP |
| Departure City | El Paso |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CGZ |
| Destination City | Casa Grande |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2004 3:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |